Millennials are reshaping the workforce, so is it any surprise their priorities are also redefining employee benefit programs?

Unlike employees in years past, highly-motivated, highly-educated millennials are looking for more than just a 401(k) contribution, medical and dental insurance, and paid-time off.

They’re actually looking for employee benefits that help them with challenges previous generations never encountered, like the crushing burden of student debt. And, they want their employers to offer a broader range of health and wellness benefits to support their active lifestyles.

Why millennials matter so much

For employers, satisfying the changing priorities of millennials is critical. In 2016, millennials – those between those ages 21 to 36 last year – became the largest generation in the workforce, according to Pew Research. Today, one in three workers is a millennial. By 2025, 75 percent of the workforce will be millennials.

In today’s increasingly tight labor market, particularly in urban centers like the San Francisco Bay Area where technology firms have set a very high bar, benefit programs that address millennial concerns can make all the difference in successful recruiting.

In our work with large and small firms across every industry segment, we have partnered with employee benefits program managers to suggest innovative benefits that align with millennial lifestyles.

The healthcare industry is currently undergoing a major shift as the digital revolution continues to expand into every area of our lives. Companies are merging healthcare, life science, and technology to foster increased efficiency and better outcomes in the healthcare system. Many of our clients are at the forefront of this industry hailed as “digital health,” which is set to fundamentally change the entire healthcare landscape.

Startup Health recently disclosed that digital health just had its largest year of funding to date with a total of $11.5 billion invested and approximately 750 deals[1]. This investment has allowed many of our clients to take on new contracts and clients, expand services and product lines, move into new geographies, and grow their business.

As digital health companies continue to grow and expand, their liability, regulatory, and privacy risks constantly change because of the complexity of the industry. Recognizing this, Marsh & McLennan Agency recently launched a new practice dedicated to serving digital health companies by addressing their unique exposures.

To address some of these, we've created three risk 101 sheets for various industries. Download the PDFs below.

After a record-breaking year of funding in 2017, 2018 is off to a promising start for digital health companies due to a flurry of changes in the healthcare industry. The biggest question for digital health companies: how will these changes impact your business?

Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JP Morgan Chase Join Forces

Over the past ten years, healthcare costs have been rising at or above the rate of wage increases, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation[1]. On January 30th, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JP Morgan Chase announced that they will join forces by creating a company designed to provide more affordable healthcare to all of their employees. The joint effort represents a major paradigm shift in how medicine is delivered – by the employer itself.

As we begin 2018, there are three areas to keep an eye on due to the uptick of claims and changing landscape: property, cyber and data security, and employment practices liability.

Property

In 2017, the US experienced many natural disasters. Damages from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and California fires are expected to result in record property losses. We can anticipate an increase in premium for all property, including vehicles. Auto premiums are already through the roof because of an increase in claims and expenses due to distracted driving and expensive technology. With almost 1 million cars lost during the hurricanes, the rates are bound to increase further.

Takeaway: 2017 losses were at a record high, but there is ample surplus in the insurance marketplace to absorb these claims. This year, we expect insurance companies to increase rates. If you have a favorable claims history, work with your broker to maintain your current pricing.

The opioid epidemic in America has become so severe that not a day goes by without hearing stories or reading about it in the news. For employers, opioid addiction has has a huge negative impact on the workplace and workforce.

Many workers who are injured on the job and are treated within the workers’ compensation system are prescribed opioids for pain management[1]. In an effort to reduce claims and costs, insurance carriers are introducing new solutions to combat opioid addiction.

In 2015, Travelers established the Early Severity Predictor model, which cut the use of opioids in over 500,000 injured employees by 30% and has helped employers reduce medical claims expenses by up to 50%[2]. The model works by identifying the likelihood that someone will develop chronic pain, a leading cause of opioid dependency. Travelers shares the results with the injured employee’s physician, helping them to identify effective treatment alternatives in order to avoid opioids. The insurer’s claims handling professionals can also use this information to evaluate requests for prescription payments.

For businesses of any size, controlling costs in this evolving healthcare environment is critical. Many smaller to mid-sized companies, however, aren’t aware of two lesser-known strategies effective at reigning in healthcare spending and regaining control.

The first is implementing a form of self-funding for employee benefits known as a captive. The second is containing prescription drug expenses by renegotiating pharmacy agreements and empowering employees to participate in cost-saving behaviors.

To find out more about these two cost-saving methods, read the rest of the San Francisco Business Times article by clicking the button below.

In April 2017, the California State Legislature approved Senate Bill 1, a transportation funding bill. The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 will generate more than $5 billion annually for road repairs and mass transit. The bill addresses a $136 billion backlog of repairs and improvements across California, creating thousands of jobs, an abundance of contract work, and growth opportunities for the construction industry.

While this is great news for eager companies, is your business equipped to handle the influx of work? How can you ensure that your company is set up for success when competing for bids?

A detailed assessment of specific aspects of your operation is the best way to make sure your company is ready. With a strong handle on the following areas, your team will have the best shot at winning and delivering on opportunities created by the transportation bill.

Evaluate Your Capacity

Assess your firm’s bonding and new bid capacity to determine if your current program can support bid opportunities over the next 12–24 months. Begin discussions with your insurance broker and bonding company about pursuing projects under the new legislation and how best to prepare.

Cyber crime has become the new norm, with 39% of breaches targeting companies smaller than $100M in revenue[1]. And while healthcare, retail, financial and educational organizations are frequent targets, every company has data and money that the hackers would love to get their hands on. Traditionally, we’ve seen attacks ranging from hacking servers for customer information, to hacking stolen laptops, and spear phishing emails where the hacker sends an email from the traveling CEO or CFO to request a wire transfer to a specific company. During tax season, they have even been sending spear phishing emails to the Human Resources or Finance department to target employees’ W2s.

But cyber hackers are creative and they are always looking for new angles to catch companies off guard.

In the past week, two of our clients have experienced a cyber breach involving some less frequent strategies.

Compromising an Amazon store login and diverting funds to a new banking account

Spoofing a vendor’s email to request payment to a new account

It’s clear that hackers are getting smarter and using new angles to target businesses. To mitigate your company’s risk, it’s crucial to be vigilant and aware of new types of attempts to steal money and information. Be mindful and train your employees to recognize phishing emails and scams. Confirm requests for changes via a different mode of communication. For example, if the request came in via email, then call a known number to confirm the requested change. Beazley Insurance offers additional employee training on phishing here.

For companies seeking proven protection for their cyber, network security and privacy exposures, a Cyber/Data Breach insurance policy remains the best and most affordable insurance solution. Follow our blog to stay up to date with the latest cyber security and insurance trends.

You heard right. Compared to the direct market or offers from alternative brokers, our client Community Collaborative is saving approximately $180,000 per year by joining the CharterShield School Benefits Trust. Under the trust structure, employers qualify for large group rates, regardless of their size.

The flexibility to work anywhere, thanks to the magic of mobile devices and laptops, is mostly terrific except in one crucial way – the punishment it delivers to the human body when effective ergonomic practices are an afterthought.

That’s a real issue for employers as they try to accommodate employees who increasingly value work-life balance and the ability to get their job done outside of the office. A new survey by Bentley University in Massachusetts found that 78 percent of millennia employees want the ability to work from home, and 96 percent say they want flexible work schedules.

So how do employers ensure that a work area or work station outside of the office isn’t going to lead to problems? To find out, read the rest of the San Francisco Business Times article by clicking the button below.